[deadkenny64]

It has to be at 32 Ohms.  The Audio-gd NFB-10SE puts out 8+ watts at 32 Ohms and has an output of 590 mw @ 600 Ohms.  It drives my HE-500s sufficiently but the volume is near maxed out on softer music.  The sound is amazing though with very black background, good instrument placement and extreme detail without being analytical.

 

[benjsu]

Thanks guys. Just wondering how much that translates into real-world performance.  I'm assuming then that the dacport will power the k701 or hd650 to decent volumes (since deadkenny mentioned it's doing so for the he-500), but would it be lacking in extension and quickness?

 

[wushuliu]

I just setup the Dacport LX for my 2 channel setup and it is a damn good dac. Performance immediately reminds me of the DAC19MK3, it's that good. I also auditioned HRT Streamer II and VDAC MKII this week as well. The VDAC is very good, but not in the league of the LX. 

 

[Enthusia]

Quote:

I just setup the Dacport LX for my 2 channel setup and it is a damn good dac. Performance immediately reminds me of the DAC19MK3, it's that good. I also auditioned HRT Streamer II and VDAC MKII this week as well. The VDAC is very good, but not in the league of the LX. 

What about the hrt streamer II and the LX?

 

[wushuliu]

Quote:

What about the hrt streamer II and the LX?

 
The Streamer II was fine, but the least impressive of the three. All of them sound good by any standard, but the LX sound quality screams hi-end. Crazy good.

 

[Enthusia]

Quote:

 
The Streamer II was fine, but the least impressive of the three. All of them sound good by any standard, but the LX sound quality screams hi-end. Crazy good.

Man, you are really making me want to get one of these.

 

[burgunder]

Quote:

Man, you are really making me want to get one of these.

My thoughts exactly!
 

 

[wushuliu]

Quote:

My thoughts exactly!
 

If you've ever heard a multibit dac, then that's what it's like except it the noise floor is so low that the music is grain-free and clean. Ever take caps out of the signal path of a component? That's what the LX is like. I can push the treble up on the eq and it still sounds good, that's how clean it is. It's hard to describe how good it is because it doesn't add any characteristic of it's own, hence the cap-less analogy. You hear straight into source and anything downstream. The closes tonally I can think is it is very much like the DAC19MK3...but better. 

 

[codeninja]

While I agree with the above opinion, I think DACPort or LX add a bit of midrange, which is great for my system.

 

[zilch0md]

 
Thanks TheMiddleSky.  I suppose you're right.
 
 
Quote:

From what I know, 750mw x 2 channel @32 ohm.
 
750mw x 2 channel @600 ohm is freaking crazy

So, when Centrance published the following spec for the DACport:
 
 
Quote:

[td] Output Power[/td] [td] 1.5W (total), drives 600 Ohm headphones[/td]

 
... what they meant was:
 
      Output Power             1.5W (total) into an unspecified impedance -AND- an unspecified output power into 600 Ohms.
 
I love ambiguous specs!  They're so inspiring!
 
Mike

 

[codeninja]

I exchanged DACPort LX with DACPort.  Actually, DACPort sounds very nice with my D7000.  Of course, DACPort is no match to HA160 when it comes to punchy bass that rocks my music.  However, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a USB powered amp to match with the full desktop powerhouse amp that's known to have one of the best punchy bass.  DACPort will have dual purpose of serving as portable DAC/amp and DAC with HA160.

 

[TheMiddleSky]

between LX and original, which one is you like more to feed HA160?

 

[codeninja]

I'm pretty sure LX is a better DAC.  Having said that, the additional clarity is not always a good thing either when not every recording is done perfectly.  It may sound weird but I want to mask some of those imperfections with less precision sometimes because I'm not trying to analyze the music but enjoy them.
 
One more note specific to LX+HA160+low impedance headphone (D7000) combo is that since the output voltage is rather high out of LX, you'll find yourself keeping very low volume with HA160.  I mean really low for some pop music that are recorded loud.

 

[Anaxilus]

Quote:

between LX and original, which one is you like more to feed HA160?

LX for sure.  It's a whole other level of transparency
 
 
Quote:

I'm pretty sure LX is a better DAC.  Having said that, the additional clarity is not always a good thing either when not every recording is done perfectly.  It may sound weird but I want to mask some of those imperfections with less precision sometimes because I'm not trying to analyze the music but enjoy them.
 
One more note specific to LX+HA160+low impedance headphone (D7000) combo is that since the output voltage is rather high out of LX, you'll find yourself keeping very low volume with HA160.  I mean really low for some pop music that are recorded loud.

 
I can certainly understand and agree with those points for your needs.  Still, I for one am hard pressed to sacrifice that extra transparency.  
 
 

 

[pekingduck]

 
Thank you DanBa - I agree that the XP8000 would work as well as the XP18000 for this purpose (albeit with less capacity, of course).
 
I'm just disappointed to hear that the Squeezebox Touch doesn't do so well with powering USB hard drives that expect to get their power from the USB port.  That leaves me with using SD cards if I want to use the Squeezebox standalone (without streaming files from a server wirelessly).   And I can't use the Squeezebox Touch and a  DACport LX in combination with my Stepdance, either, because the Squeezebox Touch only outputs via the coaxial or optical connectors. 
 
A transportable DACmini is still very appealing, though - I'm just not so keen on the Squeezebox, now.
 
Thanks for the link, though - I didn't know that my rig was the inspiration for goofyvic's transportable DACmini rig.  

 
Mike

The iPad works well with the Dacmini via the camera connection kit.